The FCC's (Federal Communications Commission) experience with unlicensed band has proven that providing a “commons” area for spectrum has fostered lots of new consumer devices and services. Technology innovations (e.g. digital spread spectrum technology) have also made it possible for numerous disparate communication devices to co-exist successfully in the same spectrum band.
To spur further advancements in the communications industry, the FCC has proposed that all unused TV spectrum resulting from the transition to HDTV (High Definition TV) be made available to consumer devices and communication service providers on a dynamic basis. The advent of WiFi, WiMAX, Ultra Wideband (UWB), and the ultimate evolution to Software Defined Radio (SDR) technology is expected to drive the need for new applications in multimode communication device that can make use of the proposed unused TV spectrum.